Politics

Bloomberg Bulgaria’s president deepened his rift with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s government, saying it had lost his trust and that the country was spiraling into a “sharp crisis” under its rule. The comment from Rumen Radev escalates a confrontation with Borissov’s cabinet, which the president says has failed to fight graft. Bulgaria has been under scrutiny from the European Union ...

Bloomberg Libya’s warring rivals have shown a “genuine willingness” to transform the current truce into a more lasting one, a United Nations envoy said as a new round of talks got underway, in a distinct shift of tone from just five days ago. “The two sides expressed their approval of the need to transform the truce into a permanent cease-fire ...

Bloomberg The biggest mystery left in Donald Trump’s inevitable impeachment acquittal is whether any Democrats will join Senate Republicans to give him a bipartisan vote to clear him of the House’s charges. Democratic senators who represent Trump-leaning states have to decide whether they will buck their party on what could be the most important vote before the November elections and ...

Bloomberg A South African court ordered the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma after he failed to show up for his corruption trial, signalling a more aggressive approach by the authorities to tackle corruption. The rand strengthened. Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to address graft when he took over as president in February 2018, but to date there have been no high-profile ...

Bloomberg A momentous, if anticlimactic, few days lie ahead in Washington as the Senate hears closing arguments in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, then holds two days of debate before voting for an all-but-guaranteed acquittal. In between, Democrats in Iowa’s caucuses took the first step on Monday towards choosing the candidate who’ll run against Trump in November. And on Tuesday ...

Bloomberg Ugandan and Rwandan leaders pledged a mutual release of prisoners as a step in easing a diplomatic dispute that hit a low with the closing of their busiest border last year. President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, committed to refrain from actions that could be perceived as “supporting, financing and infiltration of destabilising forces in their ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump has spent the past four years lobbing unsolicited advice at British prime ministers on the best path forward for an exit from the European Union and holding out promises of a grand new trans-Atlantic trade alliance. Now that Brexit is official, though, Trump gets to really double down on a role he relishes: that of the geopolitical ...

Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron will need all of his charm to rekindle France’s relationship with Poland. In the first visit to Warsaw by a French head of state in six years, he’s seeking to mend relations strained by his criticism of Poland’s controversial overhaul of the judiciary and its rejection of a deal with Airbus in 2016. Meeting his counterpart Andrzej ...

Bloomberg Russia may deport foreign citizens who are infected with the deadly new strain of coronavirus as part of a national plan against the outbreak signed PM  Mikhail Mishustin. The government will also postpone the flagship Sochi Economic Forum due to be held from February 12-14 as a precaution, Mishustin said at a televised meeting with his deputies on Monday. ...

Bloomberg US politicians, including Senators Mitt Romney and Cory Gardner, criticised international organisations for excluding Taiwan amid a global effort to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. China has placed pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Criminal Police Organization to exclude Taiwan from discussions, Romney said, echoing calls for immediate inclusion ...